Pre-booking for Elon Musk's Starlink Internet opens in India

Pre-booking for Elon Musk-owned SpaceX's Starlink Internet Service has opened for several places around the world, including certain areas in India.

Starlink has revealed that it is targeting coverage in several areas in India by 2022. Pre-booking for these areas have started for a refundable amount of $99.

"Availability is limited. Orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis," Starlink said on its website.

The areas in India for which pre-booking is available include India Colony Rd, Bapunagar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat; and Indian Coffee House Road, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, among others.

Musk had said last month that internet speed of its Starlink satellite-based internet service, which aims to provide cheaper web for millions in remote areas across the world, will double to 300 Mbps this year.

The company currently promises speeds between 50 and 150 Mbps for the Starlink project that plans to deliver high-speed internet through a network of about 12,000 satellites. It has already put over 1,000 of its Starlink satellites in orbit.

Musk had earlier said that Starlink will list publicly after the cash flow of the service becomes "reasonably well".

Starlink says that the service is ideally suited for areas of the globe where connectivity has typically been a challenge.

Amazon's Project Kuiper has similar goal as it aims to deliver fast, affordable broadband through a constellation of over 3,000 low Earth orbit satellites.

SpaceX reportedly urged the Indian government last November to facilitate approvals for satellite technology use to further Internet access in remote areas of the country.

--IANS

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